Ranji Trophy Final: Dharmendrasinh Jadeja pins hope on tail

Saurashtra spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (left) celebrates the wicket of Vidarbha's Wasim Jaffer with teammates on Day Four yesterday. Pic/PTI

Saurashtra are on the verge of history while Vidarbha want to repeat what they did last season and win their second Ranji Trophy title. At the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha, near Nagpur today, Saurashtra need to score the remaining 148 runs while Vidarbha are five wickets away from a win.

Two promising left-arm spinners from the respective sides dominated Day Four of the final yesterday. Saurashtra's in-form tweaker Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up six wickets to restrict the hosts to 200 in the second innings while Vidarbha's Aditya Sarwate displayed his all-round skills to score 49 at No. 8 and then claimed Saurashtra's three top-order batsmen including India star Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck.

Dharmendrasinh, who scored 23 in the first innings, felt his bowlers must show their batting abilities again and create history. With half the side back in the pavilion for only 131 runs in the first innings, Dharmendrasinh, Kamlesh Makvana (27), skipper Jaydev Unadkat (46) and Chetan Sakariya (28) contributed 124 runs.

Chance to create history
"Apart from Vishvaraj Jadeja [unbeaten on 23] we have only Prerak Mankad as a proper batsman. One hundred and forty eight is not a lot, but it's a fifth day pitch. It is up to our bowlers to stay as long as possible and be part of history," Dharmendrasinh told mid-day over the phone from Nagpur yesterday.

With 59 wickets, the Saurashtra bowler is the second highest wicket-taker of the season after Bihar's left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman (68). Dharmendrasinh reckoned dismissing Wasim Jaffer (11) yesterday was a huge moment on Day Four. "We all know how important a batsman Wasimbhai is. It was a big relief when we had him caught behind [by substitute wicketkeeper Avi Barot]."

Feeling the pressure
Dharmendrasinh admitted to feeling pressure. "There was a lot of pressure on me as I claimed only one wicket in the first innings. I wanted to contribute in a big way. Claiming six wickets in the Ranji Trophy final is a huge thing for me and I rate this as my best performance," added Dharmendrasinh, who enjoyed his fifth fifer of the season.

Aditya Sarwate

Double delight for Vidarbha's Aditya Sarwate
There was double delight for Vidarbha all-rounder Aditya Sarwate, who succeeded in sending back Saurashtra's India star Cheteshwar Pujara for the second time in the match.

"He is a star batsman and I just wanted to focus on my accuracy. Getting him out twice in the match is a double delight for me and my team," Sarwate told mid-day from Nagpur. Sarwate reckoned both teams have a 50-50 chance to win today. "We witnessed how their tailenders batted and scored in the first innings, so there are 50-50 chances for both sides. I will try my best to get the remaining batsmen out. Let's hope for the best," said Sarwate, who picked up five wickets in the first innings.

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